DHS Implements New Border Enforcement Rules Amid Trump Crackdown
The Department of Homeland Security has finalized sweeping new immigration enforcement rules that significantly expand biometric screening at U.S. borders and tighten scrutiny of certain visa and permanent resident applicants, marking another escalation in the Trump administration’s push to restore border integrity and national security.
At the center of the changes is a DHS regulation titled “Collection of Biometric Data from Aliens Upon Entry to and Departure from the United States,” which authorizes U.S. Customs and Border Protection to collect facial biometric data from all non-U.S. citizens entering or exiting the country. The finalized rule eliminates prior age-based exemptions, allowing biometric collection from travelers of any age.
Under the policy, CBP will deploy facial recognition technology to match live images of travelers against existing passport, visa, and immigration databases. When a facial match cannot be confirmed, officers are authorized to collect additional biometric identifiers, including fingerprints or iris scans, to verify identity.
DHS officials say the expanded biometric entry-exit system is designed to strengthen identity verification, curb document fraud, and improve the government’s ability to track visa overstays and identify individuals attempting to enter the United States using false or altered credentials.
Initial deployment will focus on major U.S. airports, with DHS planning to extend the system to land border crossings and seaports in the coming years. Full nationwide implementation is expected to take between three and five years.
U.S. citizens are not required to participate in facial biometric screening and may opt out in favor of traditional document checks. DHS said images collected from U.S. citizens who voluntarily participate will be deleted within 12 hours. Biometric data collected from noncitizens, however, may be retained for longer periods for immigration enforcement and law enforcement purposes, in accordance with federal record-keeping rules.
The biometric expansion coincides with tighter visa and immigration reviews for nationals of 19 countries flagged by DHS for enhanced security screening. Applicants from those nations may face additional questioning, expanded documentation requirements, and longer processing times at ports of entry.
According to DHS, the measures fulfill long-standing congressional mandates to implement a comprehensive biometric entry-exit system and reflect security recommendations dating back to post-September 11 reviews. Officials emphasized the effort is aimed at modernizing border operations while reinforcing national sovereignty and enforcement efficiency.
The announcement comes as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem revealed an even more dramatic move by the Trump administration: the suspension of the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, commonly known as the “visa lottery.”
Noem made the announcement after authorities confirmed that the suspect behind a deadly mass shooting at Brown University and the killing of an MIT professor had entered the United States through the diversity visa system.
“This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country,” Noem wrote on X. “At President Trump’s direction, I am immediately directing USCIS to pause the DV1 program to ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous program.”
Noem identified the suspect as Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national who obtained a green card through the diversity visa lottery in 2017.
Federal officials say Valente killed two students and wounded nine others at Brown University on Dec. 13, before allegedly shooting and killing MIT professor Nuno Loureiro two days later in Brookline, Massachusetts. Valente was later found dead by suicide in a storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire, bringing a multi-state manhunt to an end.
“This tragedy underscores the national security risks of random immigration lotteries,” Noem said.
The Diversity Visa Program, established by Congress in 1990, issues up to 50,000 immigrant visas annually through a random lottery for applicants from countries with lower immigration rates to the United States. While participants must meet basic education or work requirements and pass background checks, President Donald Trump has long condemned the program as reckless and dangerous.
Trump has repeatedly labeled the visa lottery a “national security disaster,” arguing it allows individuals to enter the country “without regard for merit” — a criticism now amplified by one of the deadliest crimes linked to the program.